New system to check suspicious passengers at New Delhi airport from Thursday

An electronic system for alerting authorities about suspicious travellers will be launched on Thursday at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.

The new electronic Indian Customs Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS) has been developed by the National Informatics Centre with the help of the Directorate General of Systems under the Finance Ministry, official sources said. The system, along the lines of one in place in the US, would act as an electronic database of all passengers, crew and other airline staff entering and exiting the international airport here, they said.
APIS automatically red flags suspicious passengers on the basis of their movement and other parameters and gives a lead to customs officials for follow up, the sources said.

The system was developed on the model of the Electronic Advanced Passenger Information System used by Customs and Border Protection officials in the US, they added. APIS is also capable of handling information such as the issuance of red corner notices against wanted persons and warrants issued by Interpol and other law enforcement agencies, the sources said. The system was being run as a pilot at the airport here and produced satisfactory results, they said, adding that APIS would be helpful in checking the instances of smuggling at the airport, which have seen a rise so far this year.